On Hockey: Classic Cup final could be on tap

Sunday

May 27, 2007 at 12:01 AMMay 27, 2007 at 11:47 PM

Douglas Flynn/Daily News staff

Anaheim and Ottawa combined for 96 wins and 215 points in the regular season, and have only gotten better in the playoffs. Ottawa never trailed in a series, despite running the gauntlet of the Eastern Conference's top contenders. The Senators posted identical 4-1 wins over a talented young Pittsburgh club, Martin Brodeur and the veteran New Jersey Devils, and Buffalo, which ended the regular season with the NHL's best record.

Anaheim, meanwhile, rolled to 4-1 wins of its own over Minnesota and Vancouver before struggling a bit to dispose of top-seeded Detroit in six games in the West final.

"It's a good hockey club we're facing, and you know they've accomplished a lot," said Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle in a conference call on Thursday. "It's two good hockey clubs that are going to meet in a seven-game series. ... It should make for a great final."

The negative side? Hockey fans have at most seven - and perhaps as few as four - games left to enjoy before another long, hot hockey-less summer begins.

Fortunately, these clubs are capable of making this Stanley Cup final, which begins tomorrow in Anaheim (VERSUS, 8 p.m.), a memorable one. And who will have the most pleasant memories? Here's how the clubs match up:

The Senators offense vs. the Ducks defense:

This is a case of strength vs. strength. Ottawa was second in the NHL in the regular season with 288 goals, and continued that pace in the postseason season with 48 more in just 15 games. The Senators have three of the top four scorers in the playoffs, with Dany Heatley (6-15-21), Jason Spezza (7-13-20) and Daniel Alfredsson (10-7-17) each piling up points. That trio was put together as a unit for the playoffs and created the hottest line in hockey, but Ottawa's offensive production falls off from there with no other forward with more than seven points in the postseason.

"I was a little nervous about stacking it all together," admitted Ottawa coach Bryan Murray in a conference call. "But in my wisdom, or lack of it, I left it alone and they have been able to handle the matchups to this point in time."

But the toughest matchup comes in this round, as Anaheim counters with arguably the top 1-2 blue-line duo in the league in Scott Niedermayer and Chris Pronger. A pair of former Norris Trophy winners, who are each averaging over 30 minutes a game, Niedermayer and Pronger are both capable of shutting down anyone in the NHL, and both are capable of chipping in offensively as well (Pronger leads the Ducks with 14 points). Francois Beauchemin is an underrated third cog in a formidable Ducks defense.

The Ducks reached the Western Conference finals last year with Niedermayer leading the way, only to fall to an Edmonton club led by Pronger. Now Niedermayer and Pronger have joined forces.

"The exclamation point for us and our whole organization was when we acquired Chris Pronger," said Carlyle. "That set everybody's mind that we were going to be very, very serious about what we're going to do."

Advantage: Ducks.

The Ducks offense vs. the Senators defense:

Anaheim's offense isn't as high-powered as Ottawa's with 258 regular-season goals and 42 more in 16 playoff contests, but it is more balanced. Teemu Selanne (48-46-94) and Andy MacDonald (27-51-78) paced the attack in the regular season, but have had more modest totals in the playoffs with 12 and seven points, respectively. Unlike Ottawa, Anaheim has plenty of depth to cover any slumps, with the line of big youngsters Ryan Getzlaf (6-3, 211), Corey Perry (6-3, 202) and Dustin Penner (6-4, 243) emerging as a force. Their size and skill can overwhelm opposing defenders, and the trio has combined for 27 points in the playoffs. The checking line of former Bruin Samuel Pahlsson, Rob Neidermayer and Travis Moen has also been extremely effective at both ends of the ice, combining for 26 points while shutting down opposing stars.

After losing Zdeno Chara to the Bruins in free agency, defense was supposed to be an area of concern for Ottawa. Instead, Wade Redden, Chris Phillips, Joe Corvo, Andrej Meszaros, Anton Volchenkov and Tom Preissing have all stepped up their games and the Senators defense is playing better than ever. This unit has size, speed, experience and depth, and they'll need all of it to contain Anaheim's aggressive forecheck.

Advantage: Ducks.

Giguere vs. Emery:

Playoff hockey usually comes down to goaltending, and both of these squads entered this spring with some questions in that pivotal area. Consider them answered. Emery had played just 10 postseason games before this year, managing a 5-5 record. This spring, he's 12-3 with a 1.95 GAA and a .919 save percentage in 15 games.

"We're very confident with him," said Alfredsson of Emery. "He played real well for us last year when Dom (Hasek) was here. When he got his chance Ray played extremely well. ... He's been really consistent, and I think that's the key with him. He's in there every night giving us a chance to win."

Anaheim's Jean-Sebastien Giguere has more experience, having backstopped the Ducks to the Cup finals in 2003, but he also had to fend off Ilja Bryzgalov for the top job. Bryzgalov has played in five playoffs games (3-1, 2.25, .922), but Giguere has re-established himself as Anaheim's top netminder, going 9-3 with a 1.87 GAA and a .931 save percentage.

"I've been fortunate obviously to play in front of good goaltending, which it's no secret is a huge part of having success in hockey and the playoffs," said Scott Niedermayer, who won three Cups playing in front of Brodeur in New Jersey. "I've been spoiled in that sense to be able to play with and in front of those type of goaltenders."

Both clubs have been spoiled by strong goaltending this spring, but Sugar Ray Emery's play has been just a little sweeter.

Advantage: Senators.

The intangibles:

On paper, this matchup is about as even as it gets. But these games aren't played on paper, and there's a lot more that goes into determining a champion.

Ottawa has the edge in momentum, as they've been the hottest team in the league since the midpoint of the season and have cruised through the playoffs with little resistance. Including the playoffs, the Senators are 39-10-8 since Jan. 1, while the Ducks stumbled a bit in the middle of the season and struggled to get by Detroit in the conference finals.

"We have to play better than we played in the last series," said Carlyle. "We know that. You don't get here by smoke and mirrors. You have to earn your opportunity to play in the Stanley Cup finals."

Anaheim will have the home-ice advantage in the finals, and the former Pond has been kind to the Ducks. Anaheim was 26-6-9 at home in the regular season, and is 7-2 at home in the playoffs. Ottawa has been equally effective wherever it plays (25-13-3 at home, 23-12-6 on road) and is 7-1 on the road in the playoffs. And with all of hockey-mad Canada pulling for the Sens, Games 3, 4 and 6 in Ottawa should provide quite a home-ice advantage for the Senators as well.

"I know our home games are going to be crazy," said Alfredsson. "It's going to be an unbelievable atmosphere in our building, no question."

Don't expect the Ducks to be rattled, though. Niedermayer has been through the wars in three Cup wins with the Devils, while Giguere played in the finals in 2003 and Pronger led the Oilers within a game of the Cup last year. Niedermayer, a veteran of 178 playoff games, is a particularly stabilizing force for the Ducks.

"I think the one thing that you can say about Scott Niedermayer is that he has a calming effect to your group," said Carlyle. "When things get a little hairy, and they always do at certain times, he has the ability to just slow down the tempo or speed up the tempo at the right time."

Ottawa will try to counter with some inside knowledge. Thanks to the unbalanced scheduled, Ottawa and Anaheim have played each other just once since the lockout. But Murray laid the foundation for the current Ducks roster when he served as Anaheim's GM from 2002-04.

Now he's helped bring some of the same approach to Ottawa. The Senators were long playoff disappointments with clubs high on skill but lacking the grit to survive the playoff grind. Now they've struck a balance, and won't be an easy out for anyone.

"It's been an evolution here and we had a couple of disappointments," said Alfredsson. "Changes were made and Murray came in. I think he's been able to take us to another level."

But the copy is seldom as good as the original, and this year's Ducks have all the pieces in place to complete their title quest.

Advantage: Ducks.

Final prediction:

Anaheim in six. The Stanley Cup will be handed out on Canadian ice, but it will be the visitors from California skating around Scotiabank Place with hockey's holy grail.

(Douglas Flynn is a Daily News staff writer. He can be reached at 508-626-4405 or dflynn@cnc.com.)

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